Chapter Forty-Eight: Hopeless

It became harder and harder for Gold to breathe with Hook's poison in his system. He lied under the deck of the pirate's ship, the Jolly Roger, as it was steered by his son. He still could not figure out how Neal knew how to steer a pirate ship or how he knew so much about Hook. All of it would not matter much longer with every second he came close to death. If he was going to die there and then on the ship of his mortal enemy, which would have been a nice ironic twist, then he would just have to accept it. He only wished that he had one last chance to talk to Belle, even if she did not remember him anymore, and tell her who she used to be.

His moment of peace was disrupted by the arrival of Jack Harkness, still boasting over Gold's situation. Gold could almost swear he had been enjoying every second of him dying. "So…I just received an intriguing text from David and River. Apparently, you have a dagger hidden somewhere in Storybrooke that's the source of all your power."

Irritated by his sardonic attitude, Gold grumbled, "Get to your point, Harkness."

"Alright. Here's the situation – Cora and Regina are after your dagger. The only way to stop them is hope David and River get it first."

Gold grinned through his agony. "Let Cora and Regina try."

Jack scoffed. "Seriously? You're still playing the bad ass role in this scenario. Have you forgotten that your son is coming back with us to Storybrooke? You really want to put him through hell on his first time there."

"Captain Harkness, that dagger has not left my possession for centuries. It's not about to now."

Jack could not believe the stubbornness of the man once known as Rumplestiltskin showed even in the face of death. "And if Cora and Regina do happen to get their grubby hands on your knife? Then what happens?"

"Then I'm practically their slave." Gold established. "They can make me do anything they want."

"Like kill us all?"

Gold nodded in reply. "You're hoping I bleed to death now, aren't you?"

"Yeah…I am." Jack's cold response somewhat surprised Gold. "But letting you bleed to death wouldn't be what the Doctor want for me to do, if he were here. I'm going to save what left of a life you have, Gold…because you're Henry's grandfather. That means you're part of Emma's family, like it or not."

Gold gingerly snickered and derisively said, "Oh, I feel so reassured."

David and River arrived at the harbor in David's truck just as Jack, Neal, and Henry moved out of the cloaked Jolly Roger with the slowly dying Gold. Ruby had arrived earlier to assist in helping Neal get his dying father off the ship on David's request. As he watched David and River approach, Jack smiled – clearly pleased to see them again – and theatrically asked, "How's the fort been holding since we've been away?"

"Well, you know…other than our current problem, there was one giant issue, but we took care of it with no problem." River answered.

"We're only sorry that we couldn't get the dagger before Cora and Regina did." David solemnly said.

"Don't worry about it." Jack said in assurance. "They can and will be stopped."

David acknowledged his guarantee with a nod. While taking Ruby's place in assisting Gold, he focused half of his attention on Henry. "You doing okay, Henry?"

"Yeah." Henry affirmed. "I drove a ship."

"Did you now?" David said with a smile.

"Yeah, my dad showed me." Henry said, smiling at Neal.

David, seeing his son-in-law for the first time that moment, eyed him curiously. While on his way back to Storybrooke and alerting each other of their situations, Jack made sure to fill David in on the discovery of Gold's son as he turned out to be Emma's lover and Henry's father. Despite David having already known, Neal still felt it necessary to tell him. "That's me," he said with a sheepish smile. To David, it was the worst way for Neal to introduce himself to his father-in-law, yet he understood the circumstances being what they were for such a brief intro.

While setting Gold gently onto the bed of his truck, David grew cautious each moment he was close by the man. "Is Cora trying to control you with the dagger?"

"Oh, you'd know if she was, and most of you would be dead by now." Gold clarified.

"Well, then we'll just have to take the fight to her before that can happen." David boldly suggested.

As David, Neal, Ruby, and Henry tended to Gold, River pulled Jack aside for a private conversation. "Were you able to find your friend? The one who the Doctor messaged about you?"

Jack sighed. "Yeah, I did."

Noting his sigh, River inquired, "Why don't you sound so hopeful then?"

"Because we had a shot at getting the Doctor back in Manhattan before Gold started getting worse. The only actual hope we have now is Gold's son over there, and I don't think he's willing to help any because of his past with Emma."

This news displeased River. "Then why aren't you trying harder to get him to, Jack? You have no idea what we've been through here while you were away in Manhattan. A woman was killed – someone very dear to Snow. We are at war now. None of us will be able to stop Cora without the Doctor and Emma here with us. We are hopeless."

Jack felt his stomach turn hearing River utter that last word. It occurred to him that the promises he gave to Gold and Henry might as well have been empty ones. He had no idea how he would get the Doctor back, even if he was able to convince Neal to help him, and he did not know how he planned on saving Gold's life. Harkness was not even certain if Gold himself knew of any way to save himself, which made their situation even more "hopeless."

And that was when Jack and everyone else there at the harbor heard a familiar sound that gave them all hope again…

VWOORMP! VWOORMP! VWOORMP!

Sure enough, the TARDIS was materializing there at the harbor, not far from where David's truck was parked. However, the materialization process was slow and out of sync. Only parts of the familiar shape of a police box faded in and out. After some time, a golden hue outlined its fading shape as if to keep its materializing under control. Whatever the golden energy was appeared to have worked – the TARDIS finally and completely materialized into solid form.

Everyone, except for Gold, looked on with smiles as three recognizable characters exited from the blue box – the Doctor, Emma, and Mary Margaret. Hope had risen as the three lost residents of Storybrooke had finally returned to the town, and at not a moment too soon.